1. Field of the Invention:
The invention relates to a sealing device for sealing openings in protected areas or shelters.
2. Prior Art:
There is a need to store important documents, data carriers, chemicals and the like in such a way that they are not destroyed in the case of an undesired action from the outside, e.g. increased heat effects in the case of a fire. DE-OS 30 10 031 discloses a shelter for storing data carriers in such a way that the latter are completely protected and whose wall comprises a plurality of thermally insulating material layers. In such shelters, existing openings such as for doors and air conditioning systems must be sealed in such a way that they do not bring about a transfer of the harmful effect, e.g. heat, in the case of a fire. Although said publication discloses a sealing element for the air conditioning opening and a door for the passage opening, no details are given of the construction thereof and it can only be seen that there are two parallel door elements.
European patent application No. 0 0023621 discloses a fireproof steel cabinet, safe or the like, in which there is a double wall, which is filled with a chemical solid having a melting point of approximately 30.degree. to 40.degree. C. Under high temperature influences, as a result of the fire or the like, in the vicinity of the steel cabinet, the thermal energy acting thereon is consumed for a long time for overcoming the melting point of the chemical solid. This cabinet has two doors, each of which is operated from the outside, the inner door having a double-walled construction and is filled with the chemical solid. The outer door has two chambers containing, on the one hand, glass wool and, on the other, concrete. The door stops are positioned externally on the wall, so that the entire load of the doors is held by the wall. In the case of a fire, there are very high external temperatures which act on the walls, so that warping can occur. This is increased by the load of the doors and the stops, also, suffer as a result of the deformation, so that the door no longer tightly closes, which contributes to increasing the temperature in the inner area.
The problem to which the present invention is directed is to provide a sealing device for sealing openings in shelters which, even in the case of high temperatures and mechanical stresses acting from the outside, retains a sealing action for shielding the inner area against external effects and which can be opened and closed both from the inside and from the outside.